The preferred source of public sector employment data is the National Statistics
Public Sector Employment (PSE) series. This is published quarterly by ONS and
the Scottish Government and provides employment estimates at national and
regional (government office) level based on public sector returns. Where data is
required for GB below regional level, Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) employee
jobs estimates provide one possible source of information. This data provides
estimates of the level of public and private sector employee jobs by Local
Authority and Travel to Work Area from 2003 to 2008.

There are some limitations and caveats that should be understood before this
data is used. In particular, unlike the Public Sector Employment figures these
estimates are measures of jobs not people/employment. They cover employee jobs
rather than the wider measure of workforce jobs i.e. they exclude self-employed
jobs, HM Forces and Government Supported Trainees. The estimates also exclude
employee jobs in farm agriculture. Full details on the limitations and caveats
of these estimates can be found in the first worksheet of the excel file.